Automatic railway gate and signal.



No. 718,126. "PATENTED JAN.13,1903. HrHIGGIN.

AUTOMATIG'RAILWAY GATE AND SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 1897. 10MODEL. nuns-sum 1 W n I 32 I o'ovw m 4272 i5.-

No. 718,126. I PATBNTED JAN. 13,1903.

H. HIGGIN.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE AND SIGNAL.

* APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 4, 1897.

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Nb. 718,126. PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903.

g H. HIGGIN. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE AND SIGNAL;

APPLICATION. FILED AUG. 4, 1897. no MODEL. a SHEETS-SEEM a S Q Q K winwane v l I 'amzwboz Z:4%flblm HENRY mam/v %%M @51 wow W1 v NITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

HENRY HIGGIN, OF NEWPORT, KENTUCKY.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE AND SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 718,126, dated January13, 1903.

Application filed August 4, 1897. Serial No. 647,026. (No model.)

To ttZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, HENRY I-IIGGIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newport, in the county of Campbell and State of Kentucky,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic RailwayGates and Signals, of which the following is a speci fication.

My invention relates to the class of railway gates and signals which aredesigned to be operated by railway-trains as they. approach and departfrom crossings; and it is more particularly designed for use inconnection with a fluid-pressure track device, a preferred form of whichI have shown and described in United States Letters Patent granted me January 4., 1898, numbered 596,591.

The object of my present improvement is to provide an automaticrailway-gate which while preventing persons from driving. onto the trackafter the gate is closed will not lock them in and serve as a death-trapif the gate should close while a team .is on the track or between thegates and to provide improved means for operating the gates and signals;and my invention consists in the parts and combination and arrangementofparts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, partially in section, of thegate; Fig. 2, a section showing the air pumps and exhaustvalve indetail; Fig. 3, a plan showing a crossing equipped with a gate and trackdevice;

Fig. 4., a plan showing a crossing with the fluid-pressure devicesdifferently arranged; Fig. 5, a section showing in detail theexhaustvalve shown in Fig. 4.

A and A represent supporting-posts, one of which is to be placed at eachside of a roadway. At its bottom the post A contains a cylinder ct,adapted to serve as a piston-chamber.

B is a piston adapted to reciprocate in the piston-chamber and having anupwardly-extending piston-rod b.

C is a cross-arm extending between the supporting-posts at an elevationfrom the road sufficient to allow the passage of an ordinary vehicle.

D and D are lever-arms pivoted to crossarm 0 at c and c and having asliding connection at their inner ends, which may be obtained by meansof slots and a pin, as shown at 01. At their outer ends these lever-armsare adapted to slide in longitudinal slots at in the supporting-posts.The lever-arm D is pivotally connected with the piston-rod b at b, sothat its outer end must rise and fall with the piston-rod, communicatinga like motion to itscompanion lever. Each leverarm, as shown, consistsof parallel strips d d Extending longitudinally between these strips isa rail (i E E, &c., are depending arms supported by wheels or rollers e,adapted to travel on the rails d the side walls of the lever-arms andthe rail furnishing the runway for the wheels. Chains e are secured tothe respective lever-arms at d and connected with the several dependingarms, so as to limit the distance by which they may be separated. Theidle position of these arms is shown in full lines in Fig. 1, one seriesof. the arms being bunched at each post, leaving the roadway open forthe passage of teams. Upward movementof the piston-rod throws theleverarms into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. Gravitycauses the depending arms to run down the rails, the distance to whicheach arm may travel being limited by the'chains e. The distance betweenthe depending arms when in operative position should be such thatneither horse nor driver can pass without striking one or more of thearms; but if the gate should close with a team on the track the arms maybe easily brushed aside and the team and its occupants escape.

At the top of the supporting post A is mounted a signal-block F, of anyapproved construction, having a cylindrical shell f, extendingdownwardly in the hollow supporting-post A and provided with a pin orlug f, which takes into a spiral groove 19 in the upper part of thepiston-rod b. The depending tube f is free to turn in the post, andupward movement of the piston-rod will turn the signal-block in onedirection, and downward movement will turn it in the reverse direction.

The piston-rod b carries a rack-bar 17 which meshes with gearing adaptedto ring a bell Z, the post being slotted adjacent to the rack-bar topermit the first gear of the train to engage with the rack-bar. It willbe seen that movement of the piston-rod will cause the bell to ring, sothat an alarm will be sounded whenever any change is to be made or isbeing made in the position of the gate or signal.

The track device for operating the gate and signals consists of a fixedbase-plate G, adjacent to the inner side of one rail of a railway-track,a lever-plate H, movabl y mounted on the base-plate, having its cornersnext the rail curved. The lever-plate is preferably provided with araised contact-piece h, having curved end, h and h adapted to be engagedby the wheels of a passing train. The lever-plate is connected by rods hwith a piston-rod 1, adapted to actuate a pistonj in a pump-cylinder J,and a plunger-rod K, adapted to work in an exhaustvalve L. Thepump-cylinder and the exhaust-valve are connected by a pipe M with thepiston-chamber a in the gate-post. The piston-rod I, where it joins thepump-cylinder, is made hollow and provided with a valve 2', adapted toadmit air to the cylinder on the return stroke of the piston. The pipe Mis provided with a check-valve m, adapted to prevent the return of airto the pump-cylinder. The exhaust-valve consists of a cylinder having atone end a bore, through which the plungerK works, and at the other end aplate Z, having a central bore in which a guide-stem Z works, and portsladapted to admit air from pipe hi to the exhaust-cylinder. Both ends ofthe plunger fit snugly in the opening through which they work, so thatwhen the plunger is at its limit of movement in either direction thevalve is closed. The shank of the plunger is provided with longitudinalgrooves k,which constitute air-passages when the plunger is in anintermediate position. The track device is provided with a spring g,adapted to return the lever-plate, and thereby the piston and plunger,to their normal positions. By changing the relative position of theleverplate and the cylinders the spring may be used to give theoperative stroke instead of the return stroke.

It will be seen that when the track device on being struck by the wheelmoves toward the air-pump, forcing the piston into the cylinder, theforce exerted by the wheel on the track devices is the operative force,and this motion constitutes the operative stroke of the piston. Thespring g returns the track device and piston and performs the return orinoperative stroke. Now when the track device and air-pump are soarranged that when the track device is struck it moves away from theair-pump, withdrawing the piston from the inner end of the cylinder.This movement is the inoperative stroke and is performed by the force ofcontact of the wheel with the track device. As the spring 9 returns thetrack device and piston it performs the operative stroke. At 1, on theleft of Fig. 3, I have shown the device so arranged that the forwardstroke is performed by movement of the plate caused by the car-wheelsand the return stroke is performed by the spring, while at 2 on theright of the same figure I have shown the reverse movement.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown a preferred arrangement of the trackdevices, air-pumps, and exhaust-valves. Track devices H and H at eachside of the crossing, but some distance therefrom, operate air-pumps Jand J and an intermediate track device H at or near the crossingoperates corresponding exhaust-valves L The exhaust-valves L areconnected with the main system of piping, in which check-valves m and mare inserted on each side of the connection. A pipe M connects the partof the main system between the check-valves m and m with the chamber ain the supporting-post. By this arrangement when the air is exhaustedfrom the cylinder at by a train as it passes the crossing only the airin the exhaust-valves, the section of the main system between thecheckvalves m and m the cylinder a, and the connecting-pipes between aand the main system is exhausted. This renders the whole system moresensitive, as the air between the checkvalves and the air-pumps on eachside of the crossing is never exhausted and its pressure is held inreserve. To operate the gate, the next approaching train merely has tooperate the corresponding air-pump a number of times sufficient toproduce the requisite pressure in this comparatively small volumecontained in the cylinder at and its immediate connections, as mentionedabove.

I have shown the check-valves m and m held to their seats by acontinuous single spring m but this function may be performed by any ofthe well known means. The strength of this spring m or other yieldingmeans controls the pressure held in reserve.

The operation is as follows: As a train approaches a crossing its wheelsstrike the curved end h of the contact-piece h of-the track device, (H,for instance,) being the end away from the crossing, and force the plateforward and inward, thereby actuating the air-pump J to produce pressurein the main system of piping M. When this pressure in the main pipesystem M becomes great enough to overcome the resistance of spring m itforces the valve in open, and the compressed air reaches the cylinder atthrough the pipe M, operating the piston B to close the gate and actuatethe signalsF and Z. As the train passes the crossing the track device His struck by the wheels and operates one of the exhaust-valves L whichrelieves the pressure behind the piston B, permitting it to drop andreturn the gate and signals to their inoperative positions. The springon closes the valve m, when the pressure in the main system M becomesslightly less than its resistance, thus holding so much pressure inreserve for the next operation of the gate. If the operative stroke isimparted by the spring,

the pressure cannot exceed the capacity of the spring; but if theoperative stroke is imparted directly by the wheels the pump-cylindershould be provided with a safety-valve.

I claim 1. The combination, in a railway-crossingprotecting apparatus,of a pair of supportingposts; a cross-arm between the posts; leverarms,pivoted to the cross-arm and connected together at their outer ends, oneof which works,iat its inner end, in a slot in the adjacentsupporting-post; a series of arms depending from the lever-arms; andmeans, inclosed in the su'pportingpost, for actuating the lever-arm,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, in arailway-crossingprotecting apparatus, of a pairof supportingposts; a cross-arm between the posts; leverarms, pivoted tothe cross-arm and connected together at their outer ends, one of whichworks, at its inner end, in a slot in the adjacent supporting-post; aseries of arms depen ding from the lever-arms; a cylinder located in theslotted supporting-post; a piston adapted to Work therein; a piston-stemconnected with the piston and with one of the lever-arms; and means foractuating the piston, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a railway-crossingprotecting apparatus, of a pairof supportingposts; a cross-arm between the posts; leverarms, pivoted tothe cross-arm and connected together at their outer ends, one of whichworks, at its inner end, in a slot in the adjacent supporting-post andeach of which consists of parallel stripshaving a longitudinalrailbetween themgaseries ofdependingarms; rollers connected with thearms and adapted to travel on the longitudinal rails; a chain connectedwith these arms and adapted to regulate their relative movement; andmeans inclosed in the supporting-post for actuating thelever,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4:- The combination, in a railway-crossing protecting apparatus, of agate or signal; a pressure-actuated mechanism for operating the gate orsignal; a track device located at some distance from the crossing andadapted to operate an air-pump to produce pressure in a pipe systemconnected with the pressureactuated mechanism; a track device at or nearthe crossing; an exhaust adapted to be operated thereby and connectedwith the main air-pipe; check-valves in the main pipe at each side ofthe exhaust; and a pipe con nection between the exhausts and thepressure-operated mechanism, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

5. The combination, in a railway-crossingprotecting apparatus, of a gateor signal; a pressure-actuated mechanism for operating the gate orsignal; track devices located at some distance from the crossing andadapted to produce pressurein apipe system connected with thepressure-actuated mechanism; a track device at or near the crossing; anexhaust adapted to be operated thereby by trains going in eitherdirection and connected with the main air-pipe; check-valves in the mainpipe at each side of the exhaust; and a pipe connection between theexhaust and the pressure-actuated mechanism, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

6. The combination in a railway-crossingprotecting apparatus, ofsupporting-posts A and A; cylinder a; piston B; piston-rod b; rack-bar bon rod Z9; bell Z; gearing actuated by rack-bar Z') to ring bell Z;lever-arms D and D carrying arms E; a connection between one of the armsD or D and piston-rod b; a visual signal F, having a lug and spiralgroove connection with piston-rod b, substan tially as and for thepurpose set forth.

HENRY HIGGIN.

